Her airy ftep as lighting from the sky, Ere now while nymphs I fing and finging burn, ART. 17. Brighton, a Poem; defcriptive of the Place and Parts adjacent; and other Poems, by Mary Lloyd. 12mo. 75. Harding. 1809. This is a fpirited and elegant compofition, and must prove acceptable to the lovers of poetry and Brighton. We willingly infert the following specimen. "But fofter fcenes invite the cheerful Now Now aged grown, and toil no more her lot, Yet ftill fhe hovers round the favourite fpot." &c. &c. NOVELS. ART. 18. The Reformift; a ferio-comic Political Novel. 12mo. Newman. 105. 1810. 2 vols. The hero of this tale, which is not altogether to be defpifed, ftarts like Mr. Wildgoofe, the fpiritual Quixote, from the bosom of the country, a red hot methodist, to reform mankind in the metropolis. He foon difcovers the errors and follies of this way, and becomes abruptly an atheift, a modern reformer, and a patriot. In the tranfition he lofes his beloved mift refs, who is married rather oddly to a thoughtless, but good natured, and on the whole amiable peer, but is finally reformed himself, and rescued from committing the act of fuicide, by a daughter of one of the Elea, but without her father's vices and hypocrify; and with her he retires to his paternal inheritance, and lives refpectable and happy. The fatire on the Methodists is fevere, and we are willing to hope overcharged; but confiderable talents are difplayed in the execution of the work, talents which feem qualified for better undertakings; and fome of the characters are remarkably well delineated. LAW. ART. 19. A Concife View of the Conftitution of England. By George Cuftance. zd Edition. 12mo. 491. pp. Longman and Co. To those who cannot afford the purchase of Black stone's Commentaries, or whofe employments do not allow time for the perufal of that work, this Epitome of the Laws and Constitution of our country will be an acceptable and inftructive book. The auhor appears well acquainted with his fubject, and to have imbibed the true principles of rational and conftitutional freedom. That fome paffages fhould be nearly a tranfcript of Blackstone was almost unavoidable, in a work on the fame fubject, from a writer manifeftly of the fame school. His object feems to have been to afford general information, without defcending to technical minutenefs; and confequently the moft intricate parts of the law of property are omitted, and the hiftory of civil actions is abridged. In recurring to the various important topics in this work, we find the author almoft invariably perfpicuus, generally correct in his opinions, and as comprehenfive in his information as the limits of fuch a work will admit. TRAVELS. ART. zo. Notes on the Viceroyalty of La Plata in South America; with a Sketch of the Manners and Character of the Inhabitants, colleted during a Refidence in the City of Monte Vides. By a Gentleman lately returned from it. To which is added, a Hitory of the Operations of the British Troops in that Country, and Biographical and Military Anecdotes of the Principal Officers employed in the different Expeditions. 8vo. 301 pp. 10s. 6d. J. J. Stockdale. 1808. Although the publication now before us efcaped our notice at firft, yet, as the Spanish Colonies on the River Piata are again become interesting, by the late events in the mother country, and their prefent uncertain connection with her, this account of thofe territories may ftill be mentioned as gratifying curiofity and affording information. The author indeed does not affect to give a ftatistical view of the country, or a fcientific analysis of its productions, but merely to detail the obfervations which occurred to him on fuch particulars refpecting the foil and climate, and more efpecially the manners and character of the inhabitants, as occurred to his notice. Of thefe the view he has taken is, upon the whole, favourable, and he feelingly laments the errors both of our political and military measures, by which thofe valuable acquifitions were loft. The circumftances which have fince occurred have rendered thefe confiderations of lefs importance; and we may in time derive more fubftantial benefits from a friendly intercourfe with thofe countries, than could have arifen during a hoftile and precarious occupation. The latter and greater part of this publi cation confifts in a long and apparently accurate detail of the operations carried on by the British troops from the original con queft of Buenos Eyres by General Beresford, to the final evacua. tion of the territory by General Whitelocke. We will not dwell on this painful fubject: but we truft the misfortunes of that period will be a leffon to all who may have influence in the appointment of our military commanders, and that the valuable lives then facrificed, the national conquefts then fhamefully furrendered, will not have been entirely thrown away. MEDICAL. ART. 21. The Pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Phyficians of London, 1809. Tranflated into English, with Notes, by Richard Powell, M. D Fellow of the College, and Phyfician to St. Bartholmer's Hospital. 8vo. Longman. 1809. An Englik ranflation of the Latin Pharmacopoeia of the Royal College of Phy ficians was required for the ufe of the fub ordinate ordinate part of the medical profeffion, and Dr. Powell feemed to be peculiarly qualified for fuch a tafk, feafy enough, one would have thougt, to any phyfician,) in confequence of being Secre tary to the Committee appointed to compofe the new Pharmacopoeia. Yet to our aftonishment, feveral unpardonable omiffions, and numerous grofs errors were obfervable in the first edition of this tranflation. This impreffion was, we are informed, cancelled as foon as poffible; and the omiffions have been fupplied, as well as the errors corrected in a fecond edition. The tranflation, therefore, in its revifed ftate, though not wholly unexceptionable, may be confidered as exhibiting, with fufficient fidelity, the meaning of the original. The notes contain much useful information. ART. 22. The Annual Medical Review and Regifter, Vol. I. for the Year 1808. By a Society of Phyficians. 8vo. pp. 392. 9s. Murray. 1809. On the merits of the first and by far the greater part of this volume that delicacy which fubfifts between rival critics forbids us to touch, except flightly. We may, however, venture to exprefs our approbation of the plan of claffing the reviews it con, tains, according to the different branches of the art, and of placing those which refer to works on the elementary and auxiliary fciences in a feparate divifion; by which means the purpose of reference is facilitated, and a connected view given of the medi cal literature of the year. In the fecond part, which profeffes to furnish an "Historical fketch of the progrefs of Medicine, Surgery, and Chemistry, in the year 1808," the authors do not appear to us to have been fo happy, as it affords little more than a few general observations, arifing apparently from a revifal of the critical department. The following introductory remarks, to the foundnefs of which we readily fubfcribe, led us to expect more full and fatisfactory in formation. "In a fcience conftituted as Medicine, where the mind of the enquirer is fo apt to be perplexed by the multiplicity of the obfervations which lie fcattered before him, nothing can be more ufeful than to paufe from time to time, to review the different additions which have been made to the ftock of know. ledge, and to determine with accuracy their refpective impor tance. By fuch an exercife we shall be enabled to feparate our real acquirements from thofe which are imaginary and useless; and difencumbering ourselves of the latter, to proceed with fresh vigour in the path of inveftigation. By fuch an exercise the ftudy of an intricate art will be fimplified, its principles will be methodized, and its practice reduced to a rational fyftem. To the neglect of fuch retrofpective views we are inclined, in fome measure, to afcribe the long reign of error in the medical world; the afcendency which hypothefes the most abfurd, and fyftems the moft moft puerile, have at different times acquired; the not lefs bane. ful influence of the authority of great names;-in fhort, most of the deviations from the true road of inquiry, which have hitherto impeded the advancement of the art, and which still continue to interrupt its progrefs." P. 302. "The Report of the State of Health and Disease in London," which fucceeds, is preceded by an interefting and well-managed difquifition on the caufes which affect the health and lives of the inhabitants of large towns, and on the different circumstances, in particular, which have of late years concurred to improve the falubrity of this overgrown metropolis. They are thus briefly fummed up. "On the whole, then, the caufes of the happy decreafe of fome of the most fatal and epidemic diseases, and the diminution of the fatality of others, as well as the increase of a few diforders, most of them of infinitely lefs importance to the community, may be in a great measure afcribed to the evident changes in the phyfical and moral condition of the metropolis during the last two centuries; more particularly to the changes which it has undergone, from a state of perpetual filth and naftinefs, to the open, airy, well-paved, and comparatively cleanly condition in which it now is; and to the alterations in our domestic economy, in regard to fituation, ventilation, and cleanlinefs. The first of thefe changes has contributed to free us from the endemic and epidemic difeafes of camps, viz. intermittent and remittent fevers, dyfentery, and the plague; and the latter have concurred to banish the contagious diseases of hofpitals, jails, and other erowded and clofe fituations, viz. malignant typhous fevers, as well as to leffen the ravages of other contagious difeafes, which were formerly most deftructively epidemic and fatal, fuch as the fcarlet fever, meafles, &c. Perhaps we may be allowed to add, that among the falutary changes to which the diminu tion of the fatality of many difeafes is juftly afcribed, the dif, coveries and improvements in the fciences connected with medi cine, which have greatly extended our knowledge of the human conftitution, and confequently augmented the certainty and ac. curacy of the medical art, are entitled to no mean confideration." P. 341. On the whole, we have no hefitation in recommending this work to our medical readers, as being compiled with ability, and as difplaying much useful refearch. A fecond volume has lately made its appearance, which we shall foon have occafion to Rotice. ART. 23. Remarks on the Frequency and Fatality of different Difeajes, particularly on the progreffive Increase of Confumption. With Obfervations on the Influence of the Seafons on Mortality. By William Woolcombe, M. D. 8vo. pp. 155. 6s. London, Longman and Co.; Plymouth, Rees and Curtis. The first part of this volume confifts of tables of the cafes at the |